The Race Card

It's been more than a week since Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson waded into the stands at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan, swinging at anyone who breathed, and by now, everyone who has seen the video footage has expressed an opinion.

In the minutes immediately following the melee, as the shocking clips were first spilling across the airwaves, ESPN's studio crew of Tim Legler, Greg Anthony, Steven A. Smith, and John Saunders took the surprising opinion that the players had done nothing wrong. They were merely defending themselves.

Predictably, there was an immediate backlash. Rob Parker of the Detroit News criticized the players turned analysts, and labeled them as part of a new jockocracy -- players who have gained positions in the media based solely on their athletic experience as opposed to any journalistic training.

While Saunders, Smith, and the two jocks may have reacted a bit prematurely, they also missed a big part of the story since they were apparently reluctant to raise the issue of race. Allow me.

One of David Stern's great accomplishments has been his ability to sell the NBA to every corner of America. He had help, of course. Michael Jordan was a perfect ambassador -- that rare individual who cuts across all segments of society regardless of race, age, or gender. In recent years, however, Stern has had to deal with several other less savory players, people like Latrell Sprewell, Allen Iverson, and the recently besmirched Kobe Bryant.

As the league's popularity continues to fall amongst white fans, the last thing the league needed was what happened on the weekend before Thanksgiving. The incessantly spinning video has burned an image into our minds -- a group of enraged black men climbing into the stands to beat on some white folk. It could be argued that David Stern's suspensions were as excessive as they were because he needed to send two messages: one to the players, and one to the league's fans.

Make no mistake, race is an issue here. Michael Wilbon even argues that the NBA's choice to embrace the hip-hop culture is partially to blame for all of this. (Of course, there are those who disagree.)

If we've learned one thing over the past several days, it's that the sporting world is not quite the meritocracy that it might seem. Consider:

* When New Mexico State University fired head football coach Tony Samuel last week and Notre Dame did the same with Tyrone Willingham, it brought the number of black head coaches at the Division I level down to two of 117 schools. (Karl Dorrell, UCLA, and Slyvester Croom, Mississippi State.)

* Just a week previous to that firing, the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport released a comprehensive study on minorities coaching in college football. The study found that most university presidents and athletic directors are white males, and that they tend to hire coaches who look like them.

* Even the recent controversy surrounding the "Desperate Housewives" skit leading into Monday Night Football last week had racial undertones. Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy criticized the spot for casting Terrell Owens in the stereotypical role of the black sexual predator along side Nicolette Sheridan. The interracial aspect of this can't be ignored, either. Josh has a nice take on this at UndertheBleachers.org.

Ten days have passed since the ugliness in Auburn Hills, but the effects will linger for quite some time. The players will obviously have to live with their decisions to take the fight to the fans, but it's up to the rest of us to decide whether or not we're willing to accept the current inequities in the sporting world.